Welcome to #CTIChat

Upcoming #CTIchat: Thursday August 5, 2010 at 9:00 to 10:30 am PT/noon to 1:30 ET/16:00 to 17:30 GMT. Use the time zone converter to make sure you join us at the correct local time.

#CTIChat is The Coaches Institute Twitter chat about coaching, leadership and running your coaching business. It’s a way for CTI alumni, and anyone interested in these topics, to have a live, ongoing, real-time discussion wherever you are in the world. The goal of these chats is to provide a way to connect to each other in social media, to share ideas, and to make personal connections.

Regular #CTIChats on Twitter will take place on the first Thursday of each month at 9:00 to 10:30 am PT/noon to 1:30 ET/16:00 to 17:30 GMT to the end of 2010. Use the time zone converter to make sure you join us at the correct local time. Transcripts for earlier sessions are available in the right column of this webpage. Be sure to follow @CTI_Coaches on Twitter to get the latest information on #CTIchats, dates, and topics.

2010 Schedule
August 5
September 2 Rescheduled: Wednesday September 8, 8:00 to 9:30 am PT/11:00 to 12:30 pm ET/15:00 to 16:30 GMT
October 7
November 4
December 2
Each session runs from 9:00 to 10:30 am PT/noon to 1:30 ET/16:00 to 17:30 GMT

 

Learning the Basics

What is a Twitter chat?

A Twitter chat is a collection of Tweets that use the same hashtag. A hashtag is a word with a # before it. You can use anything as a hashtag, actually. What it does is it allows someone to only follow tweets with that hashtag, removing all the other noise and communication. You can just follow that particular topic.

How do I use a hashtag?

When you write a 140 character Tweet on Twitter, just make sure you include #CTIChat as part of the Tweet. The software you use will take care of the rest.

What software should I use?

We’re recommending either a Web based tool named TweetChat, or a downloadable program named TweetDeck. More on that below.

How will this chat work?

Our moderators put together an agenda for each chat. Usually we'll have a general topic with three to five questions and spend 15-30 minutes on each. The moderators will pose the question and repeat it regularly for late comers. If time is available at the end of the session, we'll use that time to discuss whatever topic comes from the participants. Everyone is free to join in and post their thoughts or link to relevant content.

 

Tools to Make It Work: #CTIChat Software

For those of you who are somewhat new to Twitter or Twitter chats, we recommend that you use one of two solutions to help you follow and participate in our chats (you experienced Tweeps can use whatever’s been successful for you).

In either case, you’ll need a Twitter account. If you don’t have one, go to http://www.twitter.com/ and sign up for one.

Tweetchat http://www.tweetchat.com/

Tweetchat is a Web tool that lets you follow a chat. Just click the button “Log in with Twitter.” Once you’ve logged in, enter #CTIChat into the search box and click Go. Once you’re in, it will look like you’re on your Twitter page, but with only #CTIChat tweets.

When you want to say something, just enter a tweet into the box and TweetChat will tag it with #CTIChat. Pretty sweet. If there are other tweets you like, you can use the tools next to the tweet to ReTweet or to respond to the tweet.

TweetDeck http://www.tweetdeck.com/

This is one of the better desktop applications. You’ll need to download the application along with Adobe Air to run it. Once you’ve downloaded and logged in, you can set up different columns to follow different groups of people. You can do one column for everyone, one for your coaching colleagues or one for people who inspire you.

To follow #CTIChat, click on the PLUS sign and enter #CTIChat in the search box. TweetDeck will put all of these tweets in a special column for you to follow.

You have to remember to put in the hashtag, though, each time you tweet from here. The good part about TweetDeck is that even though the chat might be over, you can keep that column open and continue to use the hashtag in-between chats.